


Steph Brown Contains One or Two Spoilers

by bluestalking, feverbeats



Series: Jason Red Robin Hood & His Friends The Rogues [6]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:08:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22419010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluestalking/pseuds/bluestalking, https://archiveofourown.org/users/feverbeats/pseuds/feverbeats
Summary: Steph knows it’s not fair for her to get annoyed; after all,she’strying to workTimout. But after all, whatever his secret is has got to be way less weird and dangerous than hers.In which Stephanie has some clues to follow.
Relationships: Past Stephanie Brown/Tim Drake - Relationship, Tim Drake/Jason Todd
Series: Jason Red Robin Hood & His Friends The Rogues [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1327373
Comments: 29
Kudos: 149





	Steph Brown Contains One or Two Spoilers

**Author's Note:**

> YAY WE'RE SO GLAD TO BE POSTING STEPH FINALLY!!!! We hope to come back with more soon, although we're in the middle of a different batstory right now....thank you for reading! <3

1.

Steph has been trying to figure out what’s going on with Tim all year. He’s always a little weird and kind of a shut-in, but this year he’s barely had time for lunch with Steph (he’s always in the library), let alone time to go see a movie or sneak out and walk around their neighborhoods. She hasn’t believed it’s just the AP classes for months, because before that it was summer vacation and he was still being weird. Anyway, she has some AP classes and she still has time for a life. 

But now she knows the answer and she doesn’t know what to do with it.

“Walk me home,” she says. Tim is standing next to his locker after the last bell. Steph already has her bag.

"Oh," he says, blinking at her. "Why? I mean, are you okay?" Tim is so bad with girls and all other humans.

Steph rolls her eyes. “No, stupid, because we’re friends and you’ve been ditching me all summer. _And_ since we got back to school.”

Tim flushes and squeezes the straps of his backpack. "I'm not avoiding you," he says in the face of all the evidence. "I mean, don't think I'm being weird because we broke up."

“I didn’t think that,” says Steph. “But I think we need to chat.”

Tim gives a world-weary old man sigh and closes his locker. "Okay," he says. "We can do that." Like taking a walk with Steph is the end of the world.

She shoves his shoulder, a little harder than most people would. “Buck up,” she says. “It’s called being social. Humans do it.”

"I'm human," he says, but not like his feelings are hurt. "I've just been really busy."

“Yeah, okay,” Steph says. She talks about a tv show they both like (one of the only tv shows Steph watches at all) until they’re away from the school and the crowds of students have broken away. 

Tim looks straight ahead, not at Steph. "Don't be mad," he says, his voice so low it's almost inaudible. "I've been meeting up with someone after school."

“Oh really?” she says casually. “What does he look like? Short, cute? Doesn’t go to our school?”

"He--hey! You knew!" Tim says accusingly. Like he's the only person who ever gets to be clever.

“ _Now_ I know,” Steph says. “I saw you downtown last week. Really going at it, too.” 

"Oh my god," Tim says. He's bright red. "Steph! You can't tell anyone, okay?"

“What? Why?” she asks. She would tell everyone. She’d put her tongue down her girlfriend’s throat right in the middle of the bus loop.

"Because…" Tim kicks at a napkin as it blows past them. "I don't know. People will say stuff, and that's exhausting."

“Is that why you didn’t tell me?” she demands. “I would say stuff?” 

"I didn't tell you because I thought it would hurt your feelings or something," Tim says. "I know that doesn't make sense. Are your feelings hurt?"

Steph snorts. “What, did you think I’d be jealous of some guy? We’re friends, Tim, you know, friends? I’m happy if you’re dating.”

"Oh." Tim sounds stunned. "No, that makes sense. Okay. Well, his name's Jason. He's cool."

“Where does he go to school?” she asks. 

"Uh," Tim says. He tugs on his backpack straps. "He dropped out. I think he used to go somewhere in the city."

“Tim Drake dating a _dropout_?” Steph says. “Scandal! Does your dad know you’re dating the wrong side of the tracks?” _Again_ , she almost says, but there are things Tim doesn’t explicitly know about her. For a smart guy he lets a lot of things slide, when he wants to.

"No," Tim says. He sounds miserable. "I still haven't told him. It's been like six months. I'm a monster."

“Tim,” Steph says, but she changes her mind. “It’s okay. I don’t tell my parents anything.” Not that they always pay attention when she tries, but that’s not the point.

"I feel bad about it," Tim says. "I got to meet Jason's mom. I'm just...They're already in my business a lot. I don't need to make that worse."

“I’m going to meet him though,” Steph says. “Tomorrow’s good for me.”

"Wait," Tim says. "No, I don't think that's a good idea. Two separate worlds, right?"

“What does that mean?” Steph asks. She pokes Tim in the ribs. “Are you hiding something else?” 

Tim's face gets that shuttered look he's so good at. "No. You kind of found out the big one."

“So it’s too late to get shy about it, then,” Steph says. “Tomorrow after school. Unless he has work or something.” She’s trying not to imagine too many things about Tim’s boyfriend before he’s even had a chance to defend himself.

"He doesn't--" Tim starts. "Uh, he doesn't have work, I think. I'll check, though. You have to be nice to him."

“That bad?” Steph says. It just comes out, but she doesn’t feel that she’s being unfair. Tim has bad taste, herself excluded. Six month long bad taste, though?

"Well, hey," Tim says, stopping and turning to her. "He's great, actually. I just feel like you're going to pick on him." He looks thoughtful. "But he can probably handle that. He picks on people, too. But he's secretly sensitive." That part he looks proud about.

“All right,” Steph says. “I promise I’ll try and be nice for the first five minutes. That’s a fair shot, right?”

"Fine." Tim starts walking again. "He's not as bad as I'm making him sound. He didn't drop out because he's a bad kid. Oh, and if you recognize him, don't freak out. His former guardian's kind of famous."

Steph feels her eyebrows rising. “And who’s that?” she asks.

"Bruce Wayne," Tim says, sounding resigned.

“Oh, wow,” says Steph. “I don’t know who that is.”

Ah." Tim's shoulders relax. "He's famous for being a billionaire. He's always doing charity stuff and dating models. Anyway, doesn't matter, he's not Jason's guardian anymore."

Steph feels like she knows almost less now than she did at the beginning of the conversation. At least, she has a lot more questions. 

“Sounds like there’s a story there,” she says. 

"Yeah, but it's not mine," Tim says evasively.

“I’m not asking,” Steph says quickly. She doesn’t like people to ask about her parents, and she doesn’t push when it comes to other people’s. “Sorry. I just meant it sounds like things are complicated.”

"They are," Tim says, "but he's…" He trails off and waves a hand. "He's amazing, Steph."

“Go on,” she says. She’s very generous about it, considering. Why’s he been hiding this for so long, if Jason is so _amazing_? It’s not like she didn’t know he liked boys, so that’s not it. There must be another reason, and it’s annoying that she’s not sure what that is. 

"He's just a really good person," Tim says with a totally straight face. "And he's fun. Not that you aren't those things," he adds quickly. "Just, you should meet him. He'd fight someone twice his size to protect his friends, and I think that's really cool."

So would Steph, and she has the bruises to prove it, but she doesn’t say that out loud. It won’t sound good out of context. 

“Oh, now you want me to meet him,” she says. She drops the teasing because there are limits to how mean you can be to Tim before you start to feel bad about it. “Good. I want to. Tomorrow? If he’s free.”

"I'll check," Tim says. He gives her a sideways smile."Because if I don't let you meet him, you might track him down on your own."

“You know I will,” says Steph, and she can. She hasn’t because Tim’s weirdness has been a slow creep (more than the six months he’s been dating this guy, and she sure makes a note of _that_ ) so she didn’t notice at first. And her impulse to chase down everything in sight has to battle with her experience with Tim. He’d hate it. She’s held back.

"Promise you won't start trying to dig up dirt on him," Tim says. He has that closed-off look again. "I know you can get...enthusiastic. I promise I'll tell you the important things."

Nothing could make Steph want to do a little research more than this, but it’s okay, she tells herself. It’s probably just about why he’s not living with the rich guy anymore. There are lots of shitty possible reasons for that, it’s probably not even anything interesting, and since the timeline doesn’t even add up, she doesn’t really need to know.

“Promise,” she says. “Come on, let’s get ice cream.” It’s not too cold for ice cream yet, in Steph’s opinion. 

"I'll buy if you don't make fun of what I get," Tim says.

“Deal,” Steph says. 

2.

They meet up at the only permanent roasted nut stand in South City Park. It’s still on wheels like all the others, but it’s been parking on the same turn in the path since Steph was born. Different guy; the old guy’s son.

“He’ll know where that is, right?” she says. Tim says Jason is a real Gotham kid, and any Gotham kid would know what she was talking about. 

"I didn't know where this was, but probably," Tim says. He's been staring at his phone for the last five minutes.

“Does he stand you up a lot?” Steph asks, but not too meanly. 

"No," Tim says sharply, still to his phone. "I'm just worried."

Steph doesn’t expect that. “He’s only a few minutes late,” she says helpfully.

"No, I know," Tim says quickly. "I'm just being crazy." That's a weird and suspicious thing for Tim to say. He doesn't usually talk like that.

“Okay, buddy,” she says. Then Tim brightens. Steph sees him: a guy coming towards them with messy hair and a look of knowing where he’s going. He’s around Tim’s height, but he’s built more solidly. She has a feeling he really does fight people twice his size.

"Hi, Jay," Tim says. He gives Jason a really awkward hug.

"Hi," Steph says, edging herself into the picture. "I'm Steph. Man, you're as short as Tim."

“You’re like Big Bird,” says Jason. “So what?”

Steph laughs, because holy shit. "Yeah, point. You like roasted nuts?" She points at the stand, totally innocent.

"Steph," Tim says wearily.

Jason says, “I like a lot of stuff.” He takes Tim’s hand and smiles at Steph too mildly. 

Steph is one thousand percent suspicious. "Cool. It's crazy I've never seen you around. Where did you guys even meet?" Maybe she's being mean, but she wants to see what kind of person Jason is.

“Arcade,” Jason drawls.

Fair. "I guess that's what I'd do all day if I didn't have school," Steph says. She does other stuff in her free time now.

Jason says, “You’re really trying to live down that accent, aren’t you?” And it’s true. Jason sounds the way Steph tries really hard not to sound. Steph gets all the implications. 

"I'd hit back on that, but I don't want to say something _too_ mean before I know you can take it," she says.

"How about nobody says anything mean?" Tim says, but not like he's too worried about it. "Hang on, I'll get you nuts."

He leaves the two of them alone, which seems like a mistake. 

Jason says, “So, you’re kind of an asshole?”

"Kind of," Steph says brightly. "It just pays to get the first punch in. You mad I beat you to it?" She doesn't want to make Tim's boyfriend into her enemy, but being nice to strangers is an even bigger mistake, even if they are short.

“A little bit,” says Jason. “You’re nice to Tim, though, right?” 

"Yeah," Steph says. "I'm his friend, so." She knew Tim first, and she knows him better than this kid. Well, she thought she did, anyway.

“Good,” says Jason. “People should be nice to Tim.”

Steph didn't expect that. The weird earnestness. "Oh," she says. "Well, yeah."

Tim comes back with the nuts before Steph can ask what the hell Jason's deal is.

"Here," he says, offering nuts to both of them, totally unconcerned. The casual way that he touches Jason's arm makes Steph really lonely. Not jealous, and not in a way where she wants Tim, but just kind of sad about it for a second.

Jason says, “Gee, thanks,” and Steph honestly can’t tell if he’s being ironic or not. He starts eating right away.

Steph knows she's not supposed to ask about Bruce Wayne (who she Googled; he's still super boring), which makes her want to. But she doesn't want to be mean. "Do you live around here?" she asks, promising herself the next question will be a softball one.

“Other side of the bridge,” Jason says. “Part time, anyway. Sometimes I stay with my, uh, brother in Blüdhaven.”

"Cool," Steph says. She thinks some of that's not true, but it's also not her business. "Tim tells me you're a fighter."

Jason looks at Tim pointedly. 

"That's not exactly what I said," Tim says. "She was hounding me. I told you." Great, what has Tim been saying about _her?_

“Well,” says Jason. “It’s all true. I was in a gang starting when I was six. I roamed the streets. I robbed old ladies. I beat up Carmine Falcone when I was nine years old.”

Steph laughs. "Holy shit," she says. "I wish that were true." Tim does not look happy, but he's the one dating the guy.

Jason grins at her and, okay, she can see it now. 

"Nobody here is in a gang," Tim says seriously. Steph knows him, though, and she can tell he's pleased.

“What part of town are you from?” Jason asks. “It’s not a trick, promise.”

"Not the same part as Tim," Steph says. "You know, the part where they have Narcan trainings instead of yacht parties." If he's gonna call her a traitor or a fake, he's gonna do it. And as long as she's kidding enough, Tim won't try to make a thing of it.

Jason just nods. “Those yacht parties,” he says. “I sure love ‘em. You know when I was growing up we went through like a yacht a week.”

Steph can’t help noticing that Jason turns the joke on himself and not on Tim.

"For the record, I've never been on a yacht," Tim says. He's practically glowing at Jason. Shit. Steph's going to end up really liking Jason, isn't she?

"And let me guess," she tells Jason, "you're now the youngest investment banker ever."

“I know more about that stuff than you’d think,” Jason says grimly. 

"Right," Steph says, instantly sorry. When Tim tells her everything about Jason, she's sure she'll be even sorrier. "Uh, anyway, what's your favorite movie?"

“Monster movies,” Jason says. “All the monster movies.”

"Do you like Twin Peaks?" Steph demands.

“Messed up,” says Jason, which isn’t an answer.

"Twin Peaks is a masterpiece," Tim says firmly. "Do you know--" He stops mid-sentence, makes a face and says, "Anyway, it's awesome."

Okay, what? They're definitely leaving Steph out of something, or at least Tim is.

“Messed up,” Jason repeats. “I don’t care what you think.” He crumples the empty bag in his hand. “Monsters only.”

"Like Godzilla?" Tim asks, putting his arm through Jason's. "You never told me you liked Godzilla."

"Tim Drake is engaging in PDA," Steph says. "Hold the fucking phone."

“Does he not?” Jason says. He sounds actually surprised. “He does too.”

"He didn't with me," Steph says. No hard feelings, but he definitely did not. "And he's way more scared of being seen with you."

"I just don't want people at school to say anything," Tim says quickly. "But I'm not hiding him."

Jason doesn’t say anything, but his cheeks turn pink.

Okay. Steph is sold. That doesn't mean there's no mystery, though. "Don't worry, I'm not mad that you're being lovey-dovey. I'm just glad you let me meet him. You're so weirdly secretive for no reason." Not always, but lately. In the past year.

Tim shrugs uncomfortably. "Not really."

Jason says, “I know I’m a lot to take,” like he almost means it and it’s a compliment to himself.

"I can take you," Tim says with no innuendo in his voice at all. He sounds almost smug.

"Gross," Steph says.

Jason laughs, at one of them or both of them. 

“Tim’s a fighter, too,” he says.

"Yeah, _sure_ ," Steph says. "I've seen Tim get beat up dozens of times." That's an exaggeration. It was twice, and she saved him before it could get too bad. But still. Not a fighter. Not like she is.

Jason leans over to kiss Tim on the side of his head. “Let’s go somewhere,” he says. “Bumper cars or something.”

"Want me to split?" Steph asks.

“That’s not what I said,” Jason says. “Come on.”

Steph follows them, feeling cheerful and relieved. Jason has a really nice, warm way of making people feel welcome, and it's cool that he's including her in that.

But that doesn't mean she's going to stop digging.

3.

Steph tries to hold onto her nice afternoon through her much more stressful evening. It’s her dad’s danged fault. He’s had another stupid idea, and she had to stop halfway through her geometry homework to run out and stop him. So she feels lousy about him, lousy about herself, and lousy about school tomorrow, too. She also feels lousy about her costume, because one of the guys her dad was working with made fun of it, before she kicked him in the face.

Now it’s two in the morning and she’s chasing hints all the way into Haysville trying to find the one person who she can blame for this who isn’t her dad himself. 

She finds them in Rootsville Park. They're in costume--currently green tights and a long jacket covered in question marks--and sitting on a bench, playing on their phone. If it wasn't dark out, Steph would say that's a great way to get caught by Batman. Or whoever.

She walks straight up to them and snatches their phone out of their hand.

“Asshole!” she says. 

" _Hey_ ," they snap, bolting to their feet. "I was in the middle of--I needed that!" They look her up and down. "You look like the Grimace. You know, from McDonald's?"

“No, I don’t know,” she says. “And you look _ridiculous_ , so you might want to keep it to yourself.” She feels a little bad about saying that, because it’s not what she’s mad about, but she _is_ mad--so not very bad. There are worse things. She gears herself up to use her dad’s terrible name. “Did you use the Cluemaster as a distraction?”

"Ha ha," the Riddler says, relaxing."Yes, I did. It's the one thing he's good for, probably. What's it to you, and also, give me my phone?"

“You of all people shouldn’t judge what someone’s _good_ for,” Steph says. “I know all about you. You’re so bad at being a criminal that they only bring you to Arkham when your boyfriend needs a security blanket.”

The Riddler exhales sharply. " _Jesus_ ," they say. "Apparently the Cluemaster's underage girlfriend has fangs."

“You’re so far off-base I want to throw up,” says Steph. “Anyway, I’m just here to say that you need to stay away from him. He’s none of your business, just because you have two of the same stupid gimmick.”

"Uh, _no_ ," the Riddler says, dripping condescension. "See, I'm actually good at it. What the hell are you supposed to be, anyway? Eggplant Girl?"

“Yeah, that’s right,” Steph says sarcastically. “I’m Eggplant Girl. And you’re a competent villain. Oh, wait, don’t you have some kid saving your butt now?”

She likes to know things, when no one knows her. She doesn’t want anyone to know her, so honestly all this shit talking is a big relief. 

The Riddler frowns. "Uh huh, sure. But since he's not here, maybe somebody else will have to save me." They fish something out of the pocket of their jacket. It just looks like an old cell phone. "Hey, riddle me this, eggplant girl. What has a head and a tail but no body?"

That’s easy. She frowns. “A coin, obviously,” she says. 

"Obviously," the Riddler says, grinning. They flip the phone open and press a button. Then their gaze shifts and they're focused on something behind Steph. "Oh, Harv--You're early."

Steph practically jumps out of her skin. When she turns, there’s a large figure directly behind her. She does jump, now, sideways and away.

“How is this saving _yourself_?” she demands. “That’s definitely cheating!” Her heart is beating fast.

"Some of us have friends, kiddo," the Riddler says mildly. "Not you, because you're a bitch."

"Are we going to stand here sniping, or are we going to shoot her?" Two-Face says. His voice is harsh and gravely. "Actually, let's find out." He takes a coin out of his pocket. _Oh._

Steph knows when she’s outgunned. She bolts, hoping she can get out of range in her first burst of speed, before anyone has thought of trying to catch her yet. 

"My phone!" the Riddler shouts after her, but then Two-Face starts shooting, and she has to focus on that. He only tries twice before giving up. Steph runs until she’s out of the park, then gets herself out of sight on a rooftop blocks away. She changes quickly and drops back into the street with her heart still pounding. 

The phone isn’t even useful, just a liability she didn’t mean to bring with her. She pitches it down a drain and hopes it doesn’t give anyone too much of a lead on where she is. Then she hurries down to catch the train, and maybe make it into bed before four.

Okay.

Well.

That’s not the best things have ever gone.

4.

Steph feels like a puffy balloon and a dead weight at the same time--like a sinking dirigible. (It’s topical, they were covering the Hindenburg _again_ last week.) She is so tired she almost forgets to be surprised when Tim, for once, turns up at lunch and plunks down next to her. 

"Hey," he says. He _also_ looks awful. He has dark circles under his eyes so purple that it looks like he got punched. Wait, maybe he did?

She frowns. “Are you okay?” she asks. “Should I kick someone’s ass?”

"Oh--" Tim looks startled. "No, nothing like that. I'm okay." He prods at his sandwich and then starts disassembling it. "You look tired. Late night with math again?"

“Yeah,” says Steph. “I don’t know why I’m so bad at Geometry. It’s just shapes.” She is not bad at Geometry, but at this rate she might need to be before Tim can ever sneak a look at her report card. 

"It's a different kind of thinking," Tim says. "I can help out, if you want. If I have time," he adds quickly. He pulls a piece of lettuce out of his sandwich and puts it on top of the turkey.

Steph watches, then says, “Who makes your sandwiches, your step-mom? You’d think she’d know how by now.” Not that Steph doesn’t take care of her lunch herself.

"My dad," Tim says, sighing. "He tries. Hey, uh, how's your...mom?" He gets really weird whenever he asks about Steph's family, maybe because he still hasn't met her parents. They’ve been friends for years, and Steph knows Tim is weird about it because it _is_ weird, but she still can’t bring herself to risk it. If she gives him anything, he’ll have to know that her mom tries and it’s not enough, and that her dad is in and out of prison, and that she’s really hiding as many secrets as Tim suspects her of. She’s only here on scholarship, and her parents didn’t even make that happen. Social services did. Tim doesn’t need to know that. They can go their whole lives with a few secrets, can’t they?

“She’s fine,” Steph says. 

Tim nods. "Okay. So we're both tired because of homework." He smiles at Steph.

Steph knows it’s not fair for her to get annoyed; after all, _she’s_ trying to work _Tim_ out. But after all, whatever his secret is has got to be way less weird and dangerous than hers. He is definitely not following his perfect dad around, trying to thwart his crimes before he can get sent back to prison. He’s definitely not hanging out around parks trying to give the Riddler crap and almost getting shot by Two-Face. Ugh, nightmares.

She says, “It’s a bitch.” Which is what Riddler called her. What a sexist creep.

"Hey, Jason thinks you're pretty cool," Tim says, brightening up. "And maybe I can put off introducing him to my parents now. You're enough part of my life to count towards that, right?"

“Coward,” says Steph. “What do you really think is going to happen, huh? They’ll give you an after-school lecture about STIs and being _led astray_? I’m sure you could clean him up first. And they like me okay.” Not that they’ve ever been given a lot of details about Steph’s life, but the thing about parents like Tim’s is that they’re always sniffing out what you’re not telling them. Mostly in a goodhearted way. Steph wishes they wouldn’t.

"I don't want to clean him up too much," Tim says. "And I don't want to make him feel bad. Besides, they're going to ask as many questions as you did."

“Just tell them the Bruce Wayne thing,” she says. “Pretend he’s still living there. Lie about the dropping out part.” She puts her fork in her mouth.

Tim shakes his head. "My stepmom follows all the Bruce Wayne stuff. She'll know Jason doesn't live there."

Steph wrinkles her nose and swallows. “Okay, then you can play it up instead. Who did you say he’s living with?”

"Uh, his brother," Tim says. "Some of the time. He's pretty independent." He shoots Steph a look, like independent might not be a compliment and Jason might not be the only person it applies to.

Steph rolls her eyes and says, “Good for him. You could probably take a lesson, the way you worry about what your parents think.” She pokes him in the side, and is surprised to notice that where she expects him to be soft, he isn’t. Is he a secret jock now, or what?

Tim shifts away quickly, which could be a weird Tim thing, or could be...what? Something else he's keeping from her? "Sorry," he says, wincing. "Just, ow. I banged into my locker door yesterday and my ribs are killing me."

“Your locker door,” says Steph. “Okay.”

"Hm?" Tim says. His face is very blank. He's a good liar, but she's not _stupid._ "Yeah. Anyway, do you want to get ice cream later? Or is it actually too cold now?"

“It’s never too cold,” she says scathingly. Not too scathingly, of course, although it comes out a little harsher than she means just because she’s thrown off by the mystery that is Tim. “Just us, or is this a Jason thing?” 

"Just us," Tim says. "He's busy. Besides, he doesn't have to come along on everything."

Steph grins. “Good. Not that I don’t like him, but it’s nice to have you to myself.”

Tim nods and tugs on his sleeves. "Yeah, definitely. Sorry I haven't been around much. You know, in the past...months, I guess. Homework is really getting heavy." Maybe Tim is actually a terrible liar.

Steph considers pointing this out, but she knows Tim, and if he thinks she’s onto him, he’ll shut down like a turtle in winter. 

“We’ve all got things,” she says. “As long as you’re all right, and not getting beat up.” She raises eyebrows at his suspicious dark circles.

"Oh," Tim says. "No, I'm not getting beat up." Up close, though, Steph is 99% sure there's makeup under at least his left eye, doing a very good job of masking a bruise to look like tiredness.

“Okay,” she says. She tries to sound relieved, but she thinks she might sound cranky. “I guess just let me know if anything changes. You know I can take anybody.” He doesn’t, but she can. Except Two-Face, apparently.

"Sure," Tim says, smiling. "I'll keep you posted. Now can we talk about something else?"

5.

A month later, Steph is down by the docks, one of her least favorite places to be. It's seriously cold out, and she's learning about which parts of her Spoiler costume could use more layers. She has to be here, though. It's not like anybody else is going to stop her dad, at least until he does something _really_ stupid. Maybe she can stop him before things get to that point.

She's "staking out" a warehouse where she knows he's supposed to be, because even at home, he sucks at not leaving _some_ kind of clue, even if it's not putting a lock on his phone. He's five minutes late, but there are always lights on inside. Sitting on the roof of a shipping container, she shivers in the wind coming off the water.

She sees _someone_ down there--too small to be her dad, and in a few seconds she recognizes the Riddler. Still the Riddler? Come _on._ The Riddler is only wearing their costume, and they look absolutely frigid. They and her dad are both idiots. 

Steph is unfortunately thinking about this when her dad shows up and both of them get into a small boat and shove off from the dock. 

"Oh, fucker," Steph whispers. She is not following them in a boat. Probably not. Time to put a stop to this? She swings down on one of her homemade cables and lands heavily on the edge of the dock.

About half a second later, someone rams into her bodily.

They make a noise like, “Uoghf!” and go careening backwards.

"Hey," Steph hisses, scrambling to get her bearings. Is there a third person on this job that she somehow missed? She gets into a fighting stance before she realizes that she knows who it is, she thinks. It’s almost certainly Red Hood, who she's never met before, but who her Dad has definitely complained about.

He puts his fists up and says, “Who the _hell_ are you?” 

"Spoiler!" Steph says angrily, aware that the boat is both too close and getting further and further away. "But you're the one ruining things today, I guess."

“Look who’s talking!” says Red Hood. “I could have caught them if you didn’t get in my way. What are you doing here, anyway?”

"Trying to catch them, moron!" Steph snaps.

“Well I was trying to catch them too!” shoots back Red Hood. “Until you flew out of nowhere.” He cranes his neck, like maybe there’s another boat and he can fight them on the boat. 

"Well, it's screwed up now, either way," Steph says. She wishes he'd move into the light coming from the warehouse windows. He sounds _incredibly_ familiar. She just needs a second to put him in context. "Why were you trying to catch them? Don't you work with the stupid Riddler?"

“It’s complicated,” says Red Hood crankily. 

"Tell me about it," Steph says. She knows complicated. "Well, they're a total dick anyway, and now they're both going to get away with whatever stupid plan they had this time."

“If you didn’t get in my _way_ ,” Red Hood says. 

"Dude!" Steph says, and she gives him a hard shove. Oh, she is beyond pissed. Who the hell does he even think he is?

“Watch it!” he says. “Where did you even come from, anyway? I never heard of any Spoiler.”

"I've been around," Steph says, annoyed. Not that she should be, because she's been trying to keep a low profile. "What, just because I'm not Batman, nobody's heard of me?"

“Oh, you’re just like Batman now?” he says. It’s unnecessarily rude. “What’s your game, anyway?”

It clicks. The way he talks, his build, everything. It took her a second because he was being so much more of a jerk. She bites her tongue on saying _holy shit._ If she says anything, she'll give herself away, too. So instead she just stands there like an idiot, not answering him. Tim is going to lose. His. Mind.

“Hello?” Jason says. “Look, I just want to know if you’re going to keep getting in my way.”

Then Steph's whole thought process catches up with her and she's flooded with rage. She realizes she doesn't care if he knows. "Did you _hit_ Tim?" she demands furiously.

Jason freezes like a dog on ice.

“Who’s Tim?” he says. 

"Hey, don't mess around!" Steph snaps. She gives him another shove. "Did you? Because guess what, that's about to get spoiled for you too, when I knock you into the bay." This is so messed up.

Jason has his hands up, staring at her. “Steph?” he asks incredulously.

"Jason," she says grimly. Apparently his friendliness is a huge lie. Sounds like people. She can't believe she fell for it.

“Holy crap,” he says. Maybe he’s just used to people being mad at him, because he’s ignoring that part completely.

"If you tell people about me, I'll tell them about you," Steph says. "Hey, come on, I'm kicking your ass."

“Hey, wait, I didn’t do anything!” Jason says. 

"Come on, obviously this is why he's been acting so weird," Steph says. "And keeps showing up with weird bruises!" There is literally no other sane explanation.

“You’ve got it all wrong,” Jason says. He sounds surprised, but not surprised enough. And he’s not exactly explaining himself, is he?

Steph is too mad to keep talking. Tim was obviously so tired and freaked out. He was hiding the bruises with makeup. Steph has seen that shit happen way too much to think it's anything else. She lowers her head and barrels into Jason, elbow first.

“Oof!” says Jason, which is a good start. But he catches himself, still hauling in a deep, painful breath, and jumps back out of the way. “Listen, I’m happy to fight, but you’re fighting about the wrong thing!”

"Fill me in later, creep," Steph says, swinging for him with a high kick.

Jason ducks, staggering backwards. 

“Whoa!” he says. “Fine! We’re just doing this, I guess!”

He bounces back up onto his feet, grabs her by the upper arm, and jerks her off-balance.

She stumbles sideways and swings a fist at him, but her center of gravity is all wrong, and she misses. "How about don't touch my friends anymore?" she snaps, panting, when she gets her balance back.

Jason doesn’t answer. He’s too busy watching for her next move--good! Let him be a little scared.

"I'm not hearing a promise in there," she says, and she goes for him with her elbow again. It's a good move. But before she gets close, Jason grabs her arm, slams a hand against her chest, and throws her down on the shabby boardwalk.

The wind is knocked out of her, and it hurts. It occurs to her that she might not have nearly as much training as he does. But he's hitting Tim, so what the hell is she supposed to do?

"You're gonna be so sorry," she says, from the ground.

“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” he says. He doesn’t sound defensive as much as furious. Because he’s an asshole.

"Just stay away from him," Steph says. She gets up. "You can kick my ass, but try to kick his and I will _end_ you." How could she ever have thought this guy was nice?

Jason laughs. “Okay,” he says. “You’re talking out your ass, but okay. I promise not to hit Tim unless he hits me first, all right?” He sounds so sarcastic she wants to be sick.

"I would seriously kill you right now if I'd had, like, ten seconds' more training," Steph says. "Later, sucker." Getting beaten to a pulp won't help Tim, either. Her cable is busted, so she backs away from Jason awkwardly.

“What the hell,” Jason says. He just stands there. When Steph makes a break for it, he’s looking out over the water where the boat went, and not at her at all.

6.

Steph doesn’t want to make things worse, so she doesn’t rush over to Tim’s house in the middle of the night as soon as she’s escaped the docks. She goes home, instead, waits for her dad (who doesn’t come home), and tries not to scream with rage.

She keeps it contained until fourth period, when Tim is saying something about what he and _Jason_ are going to do on their _date_ tonight. Then she hisses, “You and I need to talk before then. All right?”

"Oh." Tim looks startled. "Okay?" He props his geometry textbook up in front of him and frowns at it.

Steph looks all over his face for new bruises, but maybe Jason didn’t see him last night. Maybe Jason was careful not to leave any.

“Okay,” she says firmly. “After school. Courtyard.”

"Okay," Tim says, in this world-weary way.

After school, she almost thinks he's going to stand her up. When he does show up, it's almost fifteen minutes after the bell.

"Sorry," he says, "I had to take a call."

Steph almost makes a joke about how old he suddenly is, when she thinks that it must be Jason because they have a date. She blurts out, “I know he’s hitting you!”

Tim blinks at her. "What?" he says. "Who?"

“Your creep of a boyfriend,” she says. “He admitted it to my face!” Well, that’s not totally true, but it is _basically_ true.

" _What?_ " Tim demands. "Steph, what are you talking about?" Is he seriously in that much denial?

“You’ve got bruises all the time since you started seeing Jason,” she says. She takes a deep breath, trying to sound calmer than she is. “I know you try to hide them, but I’m your best friend, and I’m not _stupid_.”

Tim face goes completely shuttered, the way it has been lately. "That's not--God. That's so messed up. That's not what it is."

Steph feels unreasonably angry at Tim. “Oh, really? Tell me he’s never hit you,” she says. “Tell me and mean it.”

"I can't," Tim says flatly. "But Steph--Okay, I can't make you understand right now. But trust me, he's not hurting me. Where did you get that idea, anyway?"

Steph doesn’t even know where to start with all that. “He hits you but he’s not hurting you?” she says sarcastically, and then has such a horrible, possible revelation that she feels her entire face go bright red.

"That's what I said," Tim says. Most of the other kids are gone, but Tim keeps darting glances around. Oh god, what if Steph has it all wrong?

Well. Even if she _is_ wrong, Tim might not be safe and Jason is still the freaking Red Hood.

“I was--” she starts, then remembers her threat. If you tell who I am, I’ll tell who you are. She should worry about that, right? Except now she’s embarrassed, and he _is_ violent, so fuck it. “I was trying to find my dad last night and I ran into him.” She leans in close. “He’s hiding things from you, Tim.” 

Tim eyes go wide. "You--wait. You ran into him where?"

“It’s doesn’t matter _where,_ ” Steph says. “Tim--he’s _Red Hood_.” She knows he’ll know who that is, because Tim is obsessed with masks the way most people are obsessed with sports teams and bands. 

Tim lets out a sharp breath. "Damn it," he says. He runs a hand through his hair. "I know that."

“What?” she says.

She really did have…everything wrong? What the fuck.

"I couldn't tell you, because it's not mine to tell," Tim says. "But I knew. And he's not hurting me." He blushes and squeezes his hands together. "God."

She stares at him. “But he’s a villain, Tim.”

"No, actually," Tim says. "He kind of fights everyone indiscriminately, if they're hurting someone weaker than they are."

“What the _fuck_ ,” she says plaintively.

"Sorry," Tim says. "Sorry you didn't know, and sorry to get you mixed up in all of this." He pauses and looks serious. "What do you mean, trying to find your dad?"

“Uh, he was just out really late,” she says. “I thought he might be at a bar or something.”

"That's not safe," Tim says, as if he knows _anything_ about it. He sounds like someone's parent.

“It’s my neighborhood, I can handle myself,” she says. “Just not your boyfriend, apparently.”

"He fought with you?" Tim asks.

“Well,” says Steph. “No. I mean. He got in my way.” Alert, alert, shut it _down_ , Steph!

"That's not what you said," Tim says. "Steph, what were you doing out there?"

“Looking for my dad,” she says painfully.

"I can ask Jason," Tim says lightly. Not exactly like a threat, but it kind of is, right? Then he shakes himself and says, "Ugh, sorry, no. This sucks. Steph, this whole conversation sucks." His knuckles are white, pressing together.

Steph feels out of control and awful. “I just wanted to know you were okay,” she says. She knows she sounds angry. “I still don’t know that, because you still won’t give me a good reason you keep being so beat up. And you said he does hit you! Can we talk about _that_?”

Tim scrubs at his face. "Okay, okay, it's just--I made a promise not to tell anyone this."

“About Jason? Well, you didn’t tell me, so it’s not your fault,” she says. “Are you just training with him, or something? It’s fine if that’s what it is. I just want you to be okay.”

Tim's shoulders relax. "I thought you'd freak out," he says. "I swear, I'm not hurt. I'm actually in great shape now. We've been working out together, and sparring and stuff. I'm not good like he is, but I'm at least less of a wimp now."

“Okay,” Steph says. She feels kind of stupid. “Sorry I overreacted. I was really worried.”

"No, it makes sense," Tim says. "I know I was being weird." He smiles. "You're a really good friend. Sorry I wasn't."

Steph could feel guilty over not telling him about Spoiler, just now, but she needs that to be secret. It’s safer if no one knows who she is, and maybe Jason won’t tell. And Steph really, really hates talking about her family. What would Tim think if he knew she got all dressed up just to try and stop her dad from being a terrible criminal?

“It’s okay,” she says. “Hey, can I have Jason’s number? I think I need to apologize for--attacking him last night.”

"Sure," Tim says. "And I'll, uh, have a conversation with him about fighting my friends." He's a whole different person now that things are less tense. He smiles at her. "Thanks for fighting for my honor."

“Well, you’re a flower that needs protecting,” she says fondly.

Tim laughs. "Give me a couple more months and who knows.” His phone buzzes and he pulls it out of his pocket. "Oh, great. My dad probably thinks I'm dead in a ditch somewhere. See you tomorrow?"

“Yeah, of course,” Steph says, and follows him out. It’s not until they’ve parted ways that she stops and thinks twice. “Wait,” she says to herself. “I thought he was going on a _date_.”


End file.
